Last week I posted about the weekly goldfish races at the Harmon Tap Room in Tacoma and the prompt cancellation after the establishment received complaints from PETA. Every Tuesday night the bar would feature races in which cheap feeder fish from a pet store were “raced” down two 8-foot troughs and racers guided the fish with squirt bottles.

PETA asserted this was animal cruelty. There were rumors fish fell on the floor and died; a few were impaled with drink straws- and some drunken idiot even swallowed one.  

This is what the races look like:

 

 
I think George W. Fish won.

But now, the Seattle Weekly reports the races will go on. The owner, Pat Nagle, said that after he cancelled the event, he received an "outpouring of support" from people who loved the races and wanted them back.

"By popular demand we just decided we would being 'em back," he told the Weekly. "We made up some new rules to make sure all the little fishies aren't ever mistreated, and we're going to go back to having some fun."

And what are the new rules?

"The fish will only be allowed to be handled by our handler, and we won't be using the squirt guns anymore. People will be allowed to use straws to blow air to scoot them down the tracks," he said. "Basically, we're just saying 'hey, we weren't really doing anything wrong in the first place, but we're gonna change things and make sure all the fish are taken care of.' I can sleep peacefully knowing that no little fishies are being treated badly."

Dude. I doubt PETA patronizes the Harmon Tap Room or that his new plan will win over activists. PETA commented  "being handled and subjected to loud noises and bright lights is a terrifying ordeal for such tiny, defenseless animals who have no opportunity to escape and who are viewed by the bar managers as expendable commodities." None of that matters much to the Harmon Tap Room. This story is making its way around the world, so Nagel must be happy.


 

 

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